Today's Digital Marketing Pulse
Accenture Song Acquires Whalar to Bolster Influencer Marketing
Accenture Song announced the acquisition of Whalar, adding a 170‑person global creator agency and keeping co‑CEOs Emma Harman and Jo Cronk in place. The deal also includes a three‑year strategic partnership that gives Accenture access to Whalar’s talent‑management, technology and venture assets, integrating the creator network with Accenture’s data and AI capabilities.
Gushwork Bets on AI Search for Customer Leads — and Early Results Are Emerging
Gushwork, an India‑founded startup, closed a $9 million seed round that values it at $33 million post‑money. The company’s AI‑driven platform creates search‑optimized content, builds backlinks, and tracks leads to help businesses appear in AI‑powered search results such as ChatGPT and Gemini. Early traction includes over 300 paying customers, $1.5 million in annualized recurring revenue and month‑over‑month growth of 50‑80 percent. The firm aims to double ARR to $3‑3.5 million within the next quarter using the new capital.
Ecommerce: Your Ads Are Boring And Facebook Is Punishing You
In this episode of the Hammersley Brothers e‑commerce podcast, Mark and Ian dissect why many e‑commerce ads fail to scale, focusing on the concept that "your ads are boring." They explain that both Meta (Facebook) and Google act as "gorilla"...
PubMatic Inc (PUBM) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
PubMatic reported a 9% year‑over‑year revenue increase for 2024, with underlying Q4 growth of 16% after excluding a DSP‑related headwind and political ad boost. CTV surged to 20% of quarterly revenue, more than doubling its share, while adjusted EBITDA margin...
DoubleVerify Holdings Inc (DV) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
DoubleVerify reported a 15% year‑over‑year revenue increase to $657 million in 2024, driven by double‑digit growth across measurement, activation and a 25% surge in supply‑side revenue. The company recorded a record $8.3 trillion in billable media transactions and delivered a 33% adjusted...
Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings Inc (CCO) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
Clear Channel Outdoor reported fourth‑quarter 2020 revenue of $541 million, a 27% year‑over‑year decline, but showed sequential improvement in the Americas. The company added 74 digital billboards in Q4, bringing its U.S. digital inventory to over 1,400 screens, and expanded programmatic...
TikTok Releases Its 2026 Discover List
TikTok unveiled its 2026 Discover List, highlighting 50 creators across five categories—Educators, Foodies, Icons, Innovators, and Originators. Selections were based on video volume, account growth, engagement, and social impact. The program adds extra training and direct TikTok support for the...
Meta Cuts Credit‑card Payments, Hurting DTC Cash‑back Rewards
So Meta is getting rid of the ability for DTC brands to pay using credit cards. They are saying the process is easier and more flexible, when in reality this is going to cause a lot of headaches for brands...
How to Roll Out a Successful Rebrand on Social Media
The article outlines a step‑by‑step framework for launching a social‑media rebrand, emphasizing internal alignment before any public post. It advises a comprehensive audit of existing profiles, followed by a structured content arc—teaser, reveal, and reinforcement—tailored to each platform. The guide...
Major Brands Launch ChatGPT Ads, Activity Rises
Update on ChatGPT Ads: Adthena is seeing an uptick in activity. Their CMO posted more examples this afternoon on LinkedIn of ads they are seeing and pinged me there. Advertisers spotted so far: 🔹 Best Buy 🔹 AT&T 🔹 Pottery Barn...
Gen Z Preference For TikTok Over Google Drops 50%, Data Shows via @Sejournal, @MattGSouthern
Adobe Express’s February 2026 survey of 807 U.S. consumers shows TikTok usage as a search tool rose to 49%, yet Gen Z’s preference for TikTok over Google fell from 8% in 2024 to just 4% today. Across all ages, 14% of...
6 Best Influencer Marketing Tools Built for Real Results in 2026
Influencer marketing has become a core growth channel in 2026, with budgets expanding and board‑level scrutiny demanding measurable ROI. The article outlines the three critical stages—discovery, campaign management, and performance measurement—and why integrated tools are essential to avoid manual inefficiencies....
From Cart to Couch: How Retail Data Is Powering the Next Era of Premium Video
Retail data is now the backbone of outcome‑based CTV audiences, allowing brands to target known, competitive or lapsed shoppers on premium video platforms. Kroger Precision Marketing reports that campaigns built on its grocery‑derived audiences generate a median 5% lift in...
Forget the Full Season: Why Gen Z Is Ghosting Traditional Sports Sponsorships for ‘Vibe-Check’ Marketing
Gen Z’s relationship with sport is shifting from season‑long sponsorships to moment‑driven, digital‑first engagement. A Pureprofile study of 1,004 Australian 18‑29‑year‑olds shows 83% interact with sport, yet only 42% attend live events, preferring high‑impact tentpole moments. Merchandise consumption focuses on...
Why Every Restaurant Needs a Google Review Response Strategy
The Brand To Table podcast explains why restaurants must actively respond to Google reviews. Host Henry Kaminski Jr. outlines how thoughtful replies signal care, improve online reputation, and boost local search visibility. He introduces the AAR Method—Appreciate, Address, Redirect—to turn...
Bridge Marketing & Sales: Align Mindsets for Growth
The misalignment between marketing and sales often stems from the different mindsets that each team brings to the table. Although both teams share the same overarching goal of driving business success, their approaches to engaging prospects can differ significantly. If...
Master One Skill Deeply, Don't Skim Through Ads
I have hour-long Facebook ads tutorials online for free. They have 90% of the information you need to start running ads tomorrow. And yet less than 1% of people finish them. I’ll see new founders commit to learning Facebook ads, then 2...
How Cognitive Insight Fuels Smarter eCommerce Growth
The article argues that Shopify founders’ cognitive self‑awareness, not just AI tools, is the key growth lever in today’s data‑rich eCommerce environment. It outlines five cognitive traits—analytical reasoning, pattern recognition, rapid problem‑solving, logical decision‑making, and adaptability—that consistently separate high‑growth operators...
Outrage Alone Won’t Mobilize; Give Audiences a Cause
“you can’t rely just on fueling outrage to activate your audience...they need something specific to get behind.” one of my favorite quotes from my interview with @perfectunion’s director of audience engagement.
AEO Claims May Just Reflect Strong SEO Practices
Reading a few AI search case studies right now, and struggling with correlation vs. causation... Everything they list as an "AEO tactic" is actually something that's also just good for SEO. Fresh content Using Schema Front-loading important content Using ordered lists Adding FAQs to solution pages Is...
Why AI May Cause a Lot of Ad Tech Companies to Duck and Cover
At the 12th Kochava Summit, the company unveiled its AI‑driven Atlas Performance platform, aiming to merge measurement with media buying. CEO Charles Manning predicts AI agents will replace much of the ad‑tech middleware, triggering consolidation and a shift toward IO‑level...
Verify Emails Instantly to Protect Sender Reputation
Sending cold emails to addresses that don't exist kills your deliverability. Seen people tank their sender reputation overnight because 15-20% of their list was dead addresses. Built a free tool that verifies any email in seconds. Checks the format, domain, and...
Reddit's Coupon Surge Still Lacks Valid, Fresh Codes
Another area where Reddit is surging: COUPONS -> Reddit: A Major Surge in Coupon Search Visibility in 2025 From the post: For the 59 query brands covered by both Reddit and CouponBirds: *Reddit provides valid coupon codes for 25% (15 brands). *CouponBirds provides valid...
OpenAI COO Says Ads Will Be ‘an Iterative Process’
OpenAI has begun serving advertisements to users on its free and Go ChatGPT tiers, initially rolling them out to U.S. customers. COO Brad Lightcap described the rollout as an iterative process that must prioritize user privacy and trust. The company...
Klaviyo Partners with Google
Klaviyo, a B2C CRM provider, announced a partnership with Google to deliver AI‑driven, autonomous customer experiences across the entire commerce lifecycle. The collaboration merges Google’s search, advertising, AI and messaging capabilities with Klaviyo’s real‑time data platform, which processes 3.4 billion daily...
Latest 50+ Must-Know Lead Generation Statistics in 2026
The article aggregates over 50 up‑to‑date lead‑generation statistics for 2026, highlighting that 91% of marketers list lead generation as their top priority and 93% credit personalization with improved leads and purchases. It details benchmark metrics such as an average of...
Meta's AI Will Automate Entire Ad Campaigns
If your value lives in media buying mechanics, Meta is already building your replacement. Mark Zuckerberg has confirmed that Meta is testing a system where a brand will enter a product URL and a budget, and the platform will build an...
Rebuild From Zero: 30‑Minute AI Playbook Generates Leads
If I lost my 10,000,000 social media followers tomorrow, and had to rebuild from 0, here's my exact playbook. 30 minutes a night with AI. 90 days to real business leads. Most people would panic. Start posting random content and hope something sticks. I'd...
Brave Bison Appoints Ed Knights as Head of Growth
Brave Bison, the UK‑based influencer‑marketing and digital‑media platform, has named Ed Knights as its new Head of Growth. Knights joins from senior roles at Born Social and M&C Saatchi Performance, where he led performance‑driven campaigns for major brands. The appointment...
Olympic Snowboarder Maddie Mastro Generated The Biggest Engagement Surge On Team USA’s Instagram – All On Organic Content
U.S. halfpipe snowboarder Maddie Mastro, reigning World Cup champion, generated the largest organic engagement surge among Team USA accounts during the lead‑up to the Milan‑Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics. In the 30 days surrounding the Games her Instagram engagement rose nearly...
AiMCO Wants to End the ‘Wild West’ Era of Influencer Marketing in Australia With Its 2026 Summit
The Australian Influencer Marketing Council (AiMCO) will host its 2026 Summit on Feb 26 in Sydney, aiming to shift the perception of influencer marketing from a “Wild West” to a disciplined, brand‑ready channel. The not‑for‑profit body, which introduced Australia’s first influencer...
The Platform That Broke Your SEO Strategy Is Now an AI Shopping Engine
Reddit announced a test of an AI‑powered product carousel that appears in its internal search results, surfacing items discussed in community threads and supplemented by partner product feeds. The feature, currently limited to U.S. users and consumer‑electronics queries, turns Reddit...
Digital Media Company Raptive Crosses $4B In Publisher Payouts
Raptive, the ad‑management platform for independent sites, announced it has paid $4 billion to its publisher partners, confirming its status among the top‑10 global media companies. The network now spans more than 6,500 premium sites, reaching 223 million unique monthly visitors and...
Anthropic Clarifies How Claude Bots Crawl Sites and How to Block Them
Anthropic updated its crawler documentation, detailing three distinct user agents—ClaudeBot, Claude‑User, and Claude‑SearchBot—and their respective functions. ClaudeBot gathers public web content for training Anthropic’s generative AI models, Claude‑User retrieves pages in response to user queries, and Claude‑SearchBot indexes sites to...
Popular AEO Tactic Risks Trouble when Overused
Yep seen this as a very popular AEO tactic for the last year. I think it falls into the grey area - one of those approaches that probably would have been fine on a small scale, but will likely lead to...
Holiday Email Marketing Guide: Tips + Real-World Examples
The guide outlines a data‑driven holiday email marketing strategy as online sales surge to $296.7 billion, emphasizing early planning, personalization, and creative content. It highlights the channel’s strong ROI—$10 to $36 for every dollar spent—and warns of inbox fatigue as two‑thirds...
Marketers Complain of ‘Chaos, Burn-Out and Fatigue’
A new report from global B2B agency Tmp, based on surveys of 1,000 marketers and tech buyers in the UK and US, reveals that more than half of marketers describe their environment as chaotic, with 34% experiencing burnout and fatigue...
The Next Big Ad Platform? How AppLovin Is Quietly Scaling eCommerce Brands
In this episode, Pep Hufen, CEO of Smart Marketer Agency, breaks down AppLovin’s Axon Ads platform, a mobile gaming network now open to eCommerce that boasts over a billion daily users, primarily women in their 30s‑40s. He explains how Axon’s...
The Art (And Science) Of Measurement with Extreme Reach’s Sherman Li
Extreme Reach (XR) operates as a full‑stack ad‑operations hub, handling everything from payroll and asset management to multi‑platform delivery. The company recently announced a digital integration with Nielsen One, allowing advertisers to attach audience measurement data directly to each ad....
TV Media Buyers Want Outcomes – So Nielsen Is Introducing More Advanced Audiences
Nielsen announced the addition of more than 200 advanced audience segments to its Nielsen ONE cross‑platform dashboard, drawing on Scarborough’s extensive U.S. consumer surveys. The new segments span demographics, purchase behavior and lifestyle categories, and are intended to improve TV...
Ads Decoded Episode 3 Explores How Google Is Reimagining Search Ads Experiences in a Way that Delivers Value for Both...
Google’s Ads Decoded episode 3 reveals how the company redesigns Search ad experiences to benefit both users and advertisers. The discussion, led by Ginny Marvin, Ads UI Product Manager Abby Butler, and Search Ads UX Lead Adam Bullock, details the...
Paid Media Should Accelerate Clarity, Not Manufacture Trust
Paid media is a turbocharger. Which is great… unless you’re turbocharging confusion or trying to manufacture trust. If your paid strategy is: - “we have leftover budget” or - “the quarter is ending and the pipeline is soft” …that’s not...
Scale Hreflang Mapping with Embeddings via Screaming Frog
🌍 How to use embeddings to map hreflang tags at scale - A clever use of @screamingfrog's Open AI API integration to implement hreflang by @pelogia - Check it out: https://t.co/mFnuuMojaD https://t.co/h9OLRjWQIR
Foster’s Ad Calls on All ‘T*ssers, B*llends and D**kheads
Heineken UK’s Foster’s brand launched the "Love You Cans" campaign, letting men personalize cans with cheeky nicknames like "t*ssers" and "b*llends" to spark reconnection with friends. The initiative is grounded in research showing 61% of British men find reaching out...
Enterprise AI Demands Complex, Strategic Content
Moving Beyond "Simple" Content: The Reality of Enterprise AI by @Timothy_Hughes https://t.co/hIAlV4hbey @DLAIgnite #SocialSelling #DigitalSelling #Sales #SalesTips #SalesLeader #Marketing #Leadership #ArtificialInteligence #ArtificialIntelligence #Innovation #Technology #Tech #TechNews
Meta Ad Success Now Hinges on Creative Quality, Not Targeting
The edge in Meta ads is no longer in targeting. It’s in the quality and diversity of the creative system you feed GEM. If you manage Meta ads or creative testing, this breakdown is worth your time. Full post: https://t.co/7wm7lxNad2
Philadelphia’s New Brand Platform Positions Cream Cheese as Kitchen Staple
Philadelphia Cream Cheese unveiled its biggest ever marketing push, the “Really Philly Good” platform, developed by Johannes Leonardo. The campaign introduces a cowboy‑esque brand character, Phillyboy, featured in 19 short spots across linear TV, streaming, YouTube, social and audio. Targeting...
Why Social Media Demands a Strategic Rethink
Social media has moved from a peripheral branding tool to the core of product discovery, trust building, and direct sales. Brands like American Eagle demonstrated the impact, gaining 790,000 new customers in six weeks and boosting denim sales 34%. The...
Verification Flow Directly Affects Google Business Visibility
The Google Business Profiles verification flow can have a big impact on your business's visibility https://t.co/E9hhX7waHp @ClaudiaTomina explains https://t.co/HIfXAXVHx6
Careful With Google Business Profile Verification Flow
Google has revamped the Google Business Profile verification flow, requiring merchants to choose from five specific business type options. Selecting the wrong category can disqualify a listing—especially the “online only” choice—or flag it for compliance review, raising suspension risk. The...
Elizabeth Arden Taps Leighton Meester to Front First Perfume Launch in Eight Years
Elizabeth Arden has introduced its first perfume in eight years, unveiling Eternal Aura with actress Leighton Meester as the campaign face. The floral‑amber fragrance, co‑created by perfumers Natasha Côté‑Mouzannar and Anne Flipo, launches at $69 alongside a $47 body balm. The global rollout...